NRC, Riverkeeper React to Electric Fire at Indian Point

The Indian Point nuclear power plant experienced an electrical fire on a cable running between the two reactors on Tuesday.

The Unusual Event – the lowest of four levels of emergency classification used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission – was declared by control room operators at Unit 2.

A bushing on a 138-kilovolt electrical supply line failed, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.

(Nuclear power plants not only send power to the electrical grid, they also take some from the grid for operational purposes.)

SEE: Small Electric Fault, Fire at Indian Point

The resulting fire was quickly extinguished by the plant’s fire brigade.

The bushing failure did not impact reactor operations at either Indian Point 2 or 3. The Unusual Event was terminated at 9:46 a.m.

"We have Resident Inspectors assigned to Indian Point on a full-time basis," said Sheehan. "They heard the bushing fail and then observed the response to the fire. They will continue to follow up on the company’s repairs."

Riverkeeper, the environmental advocacy group that has called for the closure of Indian Point, issued this statement about the event:

“This latest incident at the aging nuclear power plant is disturbing," says Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay. “It is one of more than a dozen at the plant in the past year and a half, which include fires, explosions, integrity issues inside one reactor, and various equipment failures. These repeated and continuing problems add to the evidence that this nuclear power is no longer reliable and needs to be shut down."
“There is an ongoing investigation by New York State regarding Indian Point’s safety and we expect to hear from them soon,” says Gallay. “This plant is just not safe to operate. The next event might be the one that we don’t come back from.”

Image of bushings via the NRC